September 23rd, 2011

...now browsing by day

 

Friday September 23rd Khios

Friday, September 23rd, 2011

The wind came up strong during the night and I decided to wait for more moderate conditions. But it has not let up all day and apparently this is just another strong Meltempi wind. At least 25 knots. Fortunately from the North but the seas are rough because there is a North running current here. The Meltempi usually peters out by the beginning of September.

The French have taken over in force in this little port, 5 of them now, one Dutch boat, et moi. A couple of the French boats will also haul out for the winter, just North of here. It sounds like a far better option than most of the places I have heard of in Turkey. I might be tempted to give it a try if I get bored of hanging around in a Turkish marina and see if I can get an affordable flight to the States, for part of the winter.

I tanked 47 liters of diesel from a tanker truck along side in the port here. The French had ordered the delivery. I was surprised at my fuel usage. Now that I am bolder in running the engine at a higher RPM it also means higher fuel consumption. If I had more choices of anchorages within the short day light hours I could slow down but from here on they are mostly 50 mile plus passages.